As the global pandemic of COVID-19 quickly spreads, it is impacting everyone around the globe. The government of Mauritius has followed the global trend and decided to proceed with the lock down of the country. As the situation continues to develop at an increased pace, we wanted to reach out and update you on how we’re supporting our employees and you — our customers and partners - in these difficult times.

• U.S. stocks closed notched third straight-weekly loss, dragged by shares of tech companies.
• The Dow is down 2.72% for the month-to-date, the S&P500 down 5.17%, and Nasdaq Composite down 8.34%.
• In economic data, the U.S. consumer sentiment index for September is up 78.9, from 74.1 in August, better than economists’ expectations of 75.9.
• In stocks, shares of Oracle slipped amid developments surrounding its proposed acquisition of TikTok while Nikola came under more fire after a fraud report triggered SEC investigations.
• European markets also finished lower, with travel, banking, and auto shares leading declines.
• Sweden’s financial watchdog said it was investigating Swedbank for potential market abuse.
• Meanwhile, Asian markets finished broadly higher, with shares in China leading the region.
• In commodities, oil had its best week since June, registering a weekly gain of about 9%, while both gold and silver futures notched weekly gains.
• In currencies, the USD fell against the yen for the fifth straight day while sterling dipped on Covid-19 worries.

Next week

• Earnings reports from Nike, Autozone, General Mills, and more stocks; and Oracle-Walmart bid for TikTok.
• Subscribe to our Monday Weekly Market Outlook that provides insights on what’s coming up that week.